Memories
by Last Marauder of Five
Summary: Cleaning up the basement can be harder than imagined when there are so many memories (One-shots)
1. Diary

**Disclaimer: ****Who wrote this? Was it a bird? Was it an airplane? Was it someone who owns The Vampire Diaries? No, it was me and I don't own The Vampire Diaries.**

**Memories**

**Damon entered the boarding house's basement and sighed. Stefan couldn't have given him a more cruel task. He looked around, analyzing the work that had to be done. That entire floor was filled with trash that had accumulated throughout the generations of Salvatores. Boxes and bags were scattered on the floor, covering every inch of wood that could be seen. He kneeled down and opened the first box. The first item to come up was an old diary of his. No one knew about it, not even Stefan. It was one of those things he just couldn't tell anyone because he was ashamed but at the same time he couldn't bring himself to throw away. He felt the corner of his lips turning up as he opened it on the first page.**

**Mystic Falls, January 7th, 1850**

**Dear Diary,**

**My mother thinks I should write more, as my teacher said, and i quote "this boy has talent, he should work on it". I disagree. Why would I want to write? I have no stories to tell and I am most definitely not a poet, so there is no point to it. However, mother says that if I don't she won't let me go for a ride tomorrow, so here I am, ranting on and on about nothing.**

**What do you write about in a diary? I think I should tell you about my day. I remember mother saying something about that. Well, let's see… I woke up, had breakfast, fought with my father - he thinks I have to work harder for school, but I think it's pointless. I will never do anything that has to do with the landscape of Mystic Falls, so why should I learn about it? -, told my brother about this legends of night creatures that suck out your blood, had lunch, my mother gave my this diary, I helped my Father organize the library, had dinner and here I am, writing.**

**Ok, I think I've written enough.**

**Damon Salvatore**

**He laughed, remembering the day he had written that. He had been so annoyed that everyone wanted him to do things he knew he would never use that he couldn't help but write about it. He still thought he was right. Knowing Mystic Falls' landscape never helped him, not even when he was still human. He flipped the little book's pages forward, curious to see what he had written after that. There were many drawings, mostly of his little brother and him, but a couple of his father being strangled, until finally he reached an entry.**

**Mystic Falls, March 13th 1851**

**Dear Diary,**

**My mother found out that I'm not writing and demanded that I started at once, so here I am, writing, in a beautiful Saturday afternoon, when I could be out there showing my brother how to mount a horse.**

**I still don't have anything to write about, though I did have plenty of things to draw about. School still sucks, my Father still thinks I should work harder and my mother still thinks I'm not investing in my talents. Oh, and my brother is still the only one in this household who is actually entertaining. Right now he is running around out there, having fun, while I'm here, stuck inside with this pencil and this booklet with nothing to write about. I just hope this is the last time.**

**Ok, moving on to my day. I woke up, had breakfast, took my horse for a ride, had lunch, helped my brother learn how to climb on the back of a horse and fought with my mother. This hardly ever happens. She's a really easy going woman, contrary to my Father. He doesn't get along very well with me, but he really likes my brother. I can't really tell if it's just because he's younger or if he really does like Stefan more than he likes me, but I don't care. I don't like him, either.**

**Now I'm going to go outside and have fun, something I should have been doing all the time I was here writing about nothing.**

**Damon Salvatore**

**He didn't recall writing that entry. It was the last one on the diary. It's other pages were filled with drawings and some of them, mostly in the end, had been torn out. He had never been very fond of it. It was a pity, though, because he really wanted to read more. Everything had happened so long ago he couldn't remember it well, though some key moments were imprinted in his memory, even though he wanted to forget most of them. Realizing that he had completely forgotten that he needed to finish his task, Damon turned his attention back to the box he had been rummaging through.**


	2. Photos

**Disclaimer:**** Guess what? I don't own The Vampire Diaries.**

**Chapter 2- Photos**

**As he continued to search through the box, throwing aside several broken porcelains and other odds and ends, he came across a photo album. He smiled at the familiar black leather cover and opened it, wondering if any of the photos had survived the years. The paper pages had yellowed with the humidity and the photos had turned sticky, but aside from that everything was intact. Damon stared at the fist page, his eyes twinkling with recognition.**

**A young couple stared back at him, smiling like there was no tomorrow. The woman wore a wedding dress and showed off her ring, which was barely visible in the poor image. Damon remembered that when his mother told him about that day her eyes shone with happiness and her expression turned dreamy as she relieved one of the most exciting days of her life, the day one of her childhood dreams came true.**

**She walked into the altar, her dress flying beside her, lighting up the way as the candlelight reflected on the pearls sewed up all over the tail. Her smile hurt the muscles on her face, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to arrive in front of the church and look into the eyes of her loved fiancee knowing that she was about to hear the words she had always wanted to hear from someone she loved, "I do". Before that day, she had spent many nights just imagining that scene, everything so perfectly set up, the whole room ready to witness as she took into her life the man she loved so much, with whom she would later have children and a beautiful house, who would bring happiness and love to her future.**

**The preacher said a lot of things, but Audrey only had ear for the soothing sound of her soon to be husband's breathing. She just wanted the man to ask them to take each into marriage. Her heart was so beating fast she wondered how no one could hear it. But it didn't matter. For her, there was no one in that room but Giuseppe, her and the preacher who was going to ask them the magical question.**

** • ****Audrey Leroy, do you take Giuseppe Salvatore into marriage?**

** • ****I do.**

** • ****Giuseppe Salvatore, do you take Audrey Leroy into marriage?**

** • ****I do.**

** • ****You may now kiss the bride.**

**Giuseppe leaned in and kissed her. Audrey could see the whole world fade even more than it had before. The only thing that existed was her husband, the man with whom she would now live and share everything, all her life was his and his life was hers. She couldn't possibly wish for anything else.**

**Damon smiled, wondering why had he never seen that photo before. His mother took a lot of pride in keeping a family album and made sure that her kids were familiar with all the photos, so that they could explain them when they had visitors. When he was a child, photos were still starting to become popular, so having an album showed a lot of status, a thing his mother judged to be very important. He caressed his mother's face, as if brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. Sighing at the memory, Damon flipped a couple of pages, hoping to find a picture he recognized.**

**On one of the last pages, he found a curious image. His mother was standing on the porch, her arms wrapped around a baby he didn't recognize. He looked closer, trying to see if it was him or Stefan. But it didn't matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to identify the baby. He was about to return the photo to its slot when he remembered.**

**Damon was flipping through an album, familiarizing himself with the many photos at his mother's request. He looked in wonder at the photos of his parents together on the Veritas Estate, showing off their new acquisition. But one solitary photo pictured something else. His mother seemed tired but very happy, happier than he had ever seen her. On her arms rested a small bundle of linen, similar to the one he saw on the photos of his birth. He examined the tiny face, his brows furring. That wasn't him. He didn't have a brother or a sister, so couldn't imagine who that child was. Puzzled, he asked his mother:**

** • ****Who is this?**

**His mother didn't answer, paying even more attention to her book than she had been before. Damon didn't understand her reaction. She never ignored him on purpose. He got up, making an effort to carry the heavy book to his mother's side, thinking that maybe she hadn't answered because she didn't have how to know what he was asking about.**

** • ****This baby. - He pointed a small finger at the bundle - Who is t?**

**His mother sighed, tears coming to her eyes. Damon jumped back, hastily taking the album out of her lap. He hadn't meant to hurt her. He didn't even know what he had done wrong. But he knew that making his mother sad was bad and should be avoided at all costs.**

** • ****I'm sorry. - He murmured, tears almost coming to his eyes.**

** • ****No, Damon, you should know. - She started - A few years before you were born, I had a little girl. You never knew her because she died when I was pregnant with you.**

**Damon wanted to know more about this sister he never met, but he could see that his mother didn't want to talk about it, so he just stared at the picture, wondering what she was like. He never found that photo again.**

**His lips almost turned up into a smile. He had always wanted to see other pictures of his little sister, but his mother refused to even talk about her. She always found an excuse as to why she couldn't pay attention to him at that moment and, with time, he forgot about her completely. He closed the album with a thud and decided that it wasn't time to dwell on the past, especially one he never lived.**


	3. Shotgun

**Disclaimer:**** As I've said in all previous chapters and all other stories I've written, I don't own The Vampire Diaries.**

**Chapter 3- Shotgun**

**Damon shoved the box away, happy to be done with at least one of them. He took another look around, groaning as he realized that he still had a lot of work to do. He wondered how long it would take to get rid of all that trash and still separate the things they wanted to keep from the useless ones. He sighed as he made an estimate. Years. It would probably take years for him to finish cleaning all that stuff out of the basement. He pulled a box closer and opened it, almost tearing out the lid in irritation. He glanced into it and picked up the first thing he saw. A shotgun.**

**Damon jumped in excitement as he thought about what he was going to do that day. His father, after much begging, had promised to take him hunting, something he had always wanted to do. Damon was growing impatient. It was still early, but he didn't want to wait. He paced around the living room, making it clear to everyone that he wanted to leave at that moment. Giuseppe grunted as he realized that his son wasn't about to just give up and go do something else. He snatched his backpack and made his way to the door. Damon's lips turned up in a smile as he saw his father approaching him. He could barely wait for the amazing day was to come. But his lips almost tore apart when Giuseppe handed over to him a small golden object. A shotgun. His fingers traced the adornments on its handle that covered the cold surface. He was sure to commit every inch of the device to his memory. That was a day he didn't want to forget.**

** • ****Take good care of this, son. - Damon's father instructed him. - It has a valuable history.**

**Damon's fingers trailed through the adornments on the weapon once again. He wondered how he could have forgotten about it. The shotgun had been his most prized possession for a long time, including a part of his vampire life. He caressed its dusty surface with his thumb, remembering the stories his father had told him about the adventures it had been in.**

**Damon was laying on his bed, already in his pajamas. Giuseppe was sitting beside him, a book in his hand. But the little kid didn't want to hear any of the fairytales in that book. He his father to tell the story he had promised so long ago. He wanted to know the history of his adored shotgun and he wouldn't settle for anything else. His father sighed, throwing the book aside and almost laughing as Damon smiled, sitting up.**

** • ****Alright, I'll tell you. - Giuseppe gave in - But listen closely, because this story is important. It has been passed from generation to generation throughout our family.**

**"A long time ago, when my great-grandfather was young, his father gave him the shotgun as a gift. Ercole had always enjoyed hunting and he planned on making a life out of it and, though he never really managed to become a hunter, he liked to carry it around both because he was really fond of it and for protection.**

**On a particularly dark night, he went out hunting for a fox he had seen in his backyard. As he entered the forest, sporting with him only a small torch, he could hear the sound of leaves rustling around him coming from all directions. He snatched his gun - your gun, now - and pointed it frenetically to nowhere. He couldn't see anything, for the weak light the fire provided him wasn't enough to illuminate the forest. He closed his eyes, trying to improve his other, more valuable senses. But he still couldn't make out the position of whatever was stalking him.**

**Having no other choice, he sent one shot in an aleatory direction. Only after he had pressed the trigger he realized that he didn't have any more bullets. But he hit it. He killed the creature. It was humanoid, but it lacked any human characteristics. Its face was distorted, its features were brute. The few clothes it wore were tattered and dirty, suggesting that it may have once been human, but a very long time ago. It was a monster, Damon, and it was after your great-great-grandfather. That one bullet, coming out of that shotgun, saved his life. You must remember that. Creatures like that have plagued our family for generations. What I just told you was neither the first nor the last encounter. If you always carry that gun with you, you may just survive. You are but a child, so don't worry, I'll protect you. However, you must never forget this story."**

**With that note, Giuseppe bent down and gave his son a goodnight kiss. Damon closed his eyes and turned around, hoping that he was tired enough to fall asleep, because he was sure that he wouldn't be able to lull himself to sleep.**

**As he remembered the story, Damon felt like laughing. Even after seeing things few adult humans would ever believe without having seen it with their own eyes, he didn't think that his father's story was true. He had used his shotgun several times and he didn't notice any difference, anything special about it. But one thing that had happened the first day he went hunting made him a little skeptical.**

**Damon's eyes widened as he saw the forest for the first time without being on the back of a horse. The trees were so high they seemed to want to scratch the sky and the leaves on the floor made the perfect habitat for colonies of insects. He almost jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Damon hated being so on the edge. The darkness in the forest scared him, but he wasn't about to show his father how afraid he really was. With that thought, he ventured deeper into the forest, taking comfort on the shotgun that rested on his pocket.**

**The wildlife seemed to grow scarcer and creepier as he got closer to the heart of the forest. The space between one tree and the other became smaller each step he gave. Giuseppe had already told him that they should just turn around and go back home, but Damon wanted to prove to himself that he could do it, that he could reach the heart of the forest. At school, the kids traded stories about what lived in its very core, but none had ever really ventured in. Damon wanted to be the first one. His heart raced and his eyes darted at every movement that passed by him. He was almost there, he knew it.**

**Damon could see a light right ahead of him. He felt as though it was shining brightly just for him. He was so proud of himself, the first child from Mystic Falls to ever arrive at the heart of the forest. He stepped into the light, expecting to see wonderful creatures living in a beautiful enchanted clearing like the lore said. But all he found was the outside world. He wanted to scream in frustration, to blame someone for his failure. He turned around to let it out on his father and he saw something that would haunt his dreams for years. A human shape, still hidden in the shadows of the forest, blinked at him.**


End file.
